course. That’s happening to women collectively, starting from expectations of care and being put-upon young girls to deciding what they’re going to study at university and choosing business courses [which they do less often than their male counterparts]. Then we get to women receiving fewer opportunities for sponsorship or mentorship. If you look at the cumulative effect of all of these little things, it really steers women off course as a group. That’s why you end up with only five per cent female CEOs or 20 per cent female deans.” Catherine Duggan “It’s critical for students to understand the journeys of business leaders. Our students often read about CEOs and managers without getting very much insight into how they got into those positions; as educators, we need to emphasise that the most successful leaders have not had careers that were perfectly planned and executed. Instead, we need to make sure that our students can navigate uncertainty and embrace things that are unknown while understanding that they can – and will – make errors, so the most important thing is knowing how to course correct.” What are some of the unique challenges you have faced as a female dean in business education and how have you overcome them? Catherine Duggan “I want to make sure that we don’t boil issues of leadership too far down into narrow issues of gender. All of us are women, it’s important that we’re women and it’s terrific to have a chance to talk to other female deans about the challenges and opportunities of being a woman in a leadership role. But we’re also multifaceted. All deans have identities and leadership styles that are amalgams of the different aspects of who they are; I think it is this mix that is so important to our success and that makes us both unique and effective leaders.” Barbara Stöttinger “I got some very good advice once from someone who told me, ‘You don’t need to ask yourself whether you’re doing a good enough job or not. The people who made the decision [on your appointment] obviously believed you could do it.’ That was a big relief. From then on, I just went ahead with it and didn’t think of myself as a female dean anymore, I was there to get the job done and to push forward with my own agenda for [the benefit of] the institution. All the other challenges that came along were ones that you face regardless of your gender. One of the biggest was Covid and nobody asked me during that time about being a female dean – the challenge was there and needed to be addressed.” Delphine Manceau “We previously talked about cognitive bias and risk-taking. I’m actually really worried about this for the future; I think the
gender bias in discipline choices for girls in their studies or first jobs is not being reduced. When I look at the number of girls in science and tech in a world that is increasingly science-driven and data‑driven, I’m worried about the future because this is not more diverse than in the past – it may even be getting worse. I still don’t think it’s being improved much globally. “It’s part of our job in business schools and as deans to improve these gender balances. We talk a lot about the glass ceiling, but we should also talk about the ‘glass cliff’. Females are often appointed to harder jobs. It’s a way of saying that you can get promoted, but it’s risky. If you succeed, it’s a great path to future success, but it’s harder.” Wendy Loretto “In a lot of ways, I absolutely agree; you are the dean and shouldn’t let gender get in the way. However, my own area of research – looking at health and ageing at work – touches upon
16 | Ambition | MAY 2024
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